Sustainable Bioethanol Production in 2024: A Homegrown Success

In 2024, the Federal Association of German Bioethanol Industry (BDBe) released data depicting the annual production and consumption of sustainably certified bioethanol within Germany. The local production of bioethanol reached a staggering 745,000 tons that year, indicating an increase of eleven percent on the previous year's production.

Fuel Market Dynamics: A Closer Look at Bioethanol Blend Rates

With nearly 17.8 million tons, the fuel market saw about 2 percent more petrol sales than the previous year. Concurrently, the blend rate of bioethanol rose slightly to 6.9 percent. Consumption of bioethanol, used in Super E10, Super Plus, and Super E5 blends or for the creation of Ethyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether (ETBE), saw a 2.6 percent increase, hitting nearly 1.3 million tons.

Market Share Overview: Focusing on Super E10 and Super E5

In 2024, Super E10's slice of the petrol sales market continued to grow, moving from 25.9 percent to 27.4 percent, reflecting an increase in total sales to around 4.9 million tons. Super E5 was also well received, garnering a market share of 67.6 percent with over 12.0 million tons sold. Super Plus maintained a steady presence with a 5 percent market share and 886,750 tons sold.

A Trending Year for German Bioethanol Production

A considerable upsurge was observed in Germany's bioethanol production for the year 2024. More than 744,000 tons were produced, an 11 percent increase compared to the previous year. Bioethanol production increasingly sourced sugar beets, seeing a whopping 78 percent increase from the previous year.

Across 2024, domestic biorefineries processed over a million tons of sugar beets, and about 2.6 million tons of feed grain into sustainably certified bioethanol and other byproducts, such as protein feed, biogenic CO2, organic fertilizers, and biogas. Wheat remained the key raw material for bioethanol production in Germany.

A Promising Future: Bioethanol Uses in Various Industries

Bioethanol found favours with chemical and pharmaceutical industries, increasingly used for creating sustainable plastic, disinfectants, and cosmetics. Consequently, bioethanol usage in the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors considerably grew by 39.4 percent to 103,827 tons in 2024. Food and beverage industries also remained steadfast consumers of bioethanol production.

Step-by-Step Increases in GHG-Reduction Obligations

With Germany implementing increasingly stringent greenhouse gas mitigation quotas (GHG quotas) set to escalate progressively until 2030, steady sales projections for renewable fuel components are assured. BDBe's CEO, Stefan Walter, asserts the ongoing need for boosting GHG quotas and subsequently higher blending of sustainable biofuels and other renewable fuels to reduce emissions.

For the comprehensive 2024 market data, including infographics and more details about bioethanol production and consumption, visit the following link.

The BDBe analysis didn't account for bioethanol production from waste materials. The Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE) reported that biofuels produced from waste and residual materials surpassed those produced from biomass for the first time in 2023. This estimate included bioethanol amongst all biofuels.